Radioactive fallout dust protective suit



Oct. 14,' 1958 l. A. zlTo 2,855,603

RADIO ACTIVE FALLOUT DUST PROTECTIVE SUIT Filed July 28, 1955 r E* I v I Y /f /S/oofrf A z/To` ATTaR/VEY United States Patent O 2,855,603 RADIGACTIV E vFALIJUT DUST PROTECTIVE S IT Isidore A. Zito, Bronx, N. Y.

Application July 2S, 1955,'Serial No. 525,046

1 Claim. (Cl. 2 2) This invention relates to a radio active fallout dust protective suit.

It is an object of the present invention to provide aradio active fallout dust protective `suit which can lbe quickly and easily entered when the -emergency arises and which will completely cover all parts of the body and clothing of the wearer and eliminate any possibility of his coming in contact with particles of the fallout dust.

.It is another object of the invention to provide a radio active -fallout dust protective suit which covers the head in the form of a hood and in which this hood is so constructed that the wearer can View through a membrane covering the face and wherein portions of the material included in the hood will provide, as the suit is worn, `triple thickness of material along the sides of the face and leading to the sides of the eye so that protection is had from any ash or tire blaze that might strike the eye from the side.

It is still another object ofthe invention to provide a radio active fallout dust protective suit having a `thin transparent sheet of material lying immediately in front of the face and forming a part of the hood and that has a weighted extension which is left `on the outside of the garment so that any dust or water containing the dust will be caused to iiow downwardly over the front of the neck of the wearer and onto the front of the garment, rather than into the garment through the neck opening, and wherein the hood can be tied about the neck and over the transparent sheet extension so as to further prevent any entrance of the dust into and about the neck opening of the suit.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide in a radio active fallout dust protective suit closed arm sleeves with closed hand or glove-like formations so that the hand can be inserted thereinto and permitted to have freedom of the fingers while at the same time the hands and arms are protected.

It is another object of the invention to provide in a radio active fallout dust protective suit a simple means for retaining the lower end of the suit or the legs thereof upon the foot of the wearer and wherein this is effected through a ared extension on the leg of the garment conforming generally to the shape of the foot or shoe and which has an elastic adapted to lit under the shoe and :arch of the wearer and a tie cord adapted to draw the lower end of the leg portion of the suit about the ankles of the wearer and to hold the legs down on the shoe and tightly thereagainst.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a radio active fallout dust protective suit which is of simple construction, adaptable to different size persons, light in weight, adapted to be folded in such a manner that it can be carried about without consuming space, durable, permits breathing through a specially treated breather device, durable, and effective and eliicient in use.

For other o-bjects and a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed Aice description taken .in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a front perspective view of the garment or protective `suit embodying the features of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view ofthe hood portion of the garment as viewed on line 2-.2 of Fig. rl;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the hood portion ofthe garment showing the triple layers of ymaterial at .the sides of the face and .as viewed generally on line 3-3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged side elevational view of the hood portion of the garment with the portion of the hood lying in front of the face disconnected and untied about the neck of the wearer;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged front elevational view of a fragment of the garment including the hood portion and with the front parts of the garment opened and the hood left untied;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view ofthe hand portion of the garment;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the foot opening portion of the suit, and .illustrating .the manner in which the same is tied about the foot of .the wearer.

Referring now to the figures, 10 generally represents the protective suit that embodies the features -of :the present invention. This suit has a separable front waist portion having separable parts 11 and 12 that are drawn together and held in .closed positions over the front of the wearer by va slide fastener device 13 that extends downwardly midway to the lower end of the garment. When the parts 11 and 12 of the suit are disconnected from one another and opened, a large opening is provided into which the legs can be extended into .the garment and the parts 11 and 12 thrown over the shoulder. Arm sleeves 13 and 14 are connected to the respective parts 11 and 12 and each Vof these respective `arm sleeves have hand glove formations 15 and 16 respectively which cover the hand and permit freedom of movement of the lingers and at the same time provides for a closed arm sleeve. One of these 'hand glove formations is shown in Fig. 6, and can be seen to have linger projections 17, i8, 19, 2l) and 21 adapted to receive the thumb and fingers of the hand. A beading 22 extends around the fingers and the hand portion to reinforce the parts of the portion anddetine the outline of the hand. This beading extends partially up the sleeve portion and completely closes off the hand portion and the sleeve to prevent any dust from getting thereinto and at the saine time allows freedom of movement of the hand 4and arm. Depending from the parts 11 and 12 and a back portion 23 are leg portions 24 and 25 which cover the legs of the wearer and extend down to the feet. On the lower end of each leg portion is a flared, generally shoe-shaped formation 26 secured by stitching indicated generally at 27, and open on the bottom and adapted to extend over the top and back of the shoe and its edges running over the shoe soles and flush with the ground. An elastic shoe strap 28 can extend under the arch of the shoe so as to hold the leg portion downwardly to the shoe and the flared shoe-shaped formation 26 over the shoe. To further hold the leg portions about the shoe, there is a tie cord 29 having its free ends drawn and tied as indicated at 30 over the top of the foot.

The back part 23 extends up to the shoulder and is connected with each of the front parts by a seam 31 and with the upper end o-f each of the sleeves by a seam 32, Fig. 4. Connected to the upper ends of the back part 23 is a hood construction 33 that contains the principal features of the present invention. In order to shape this hood over the sides and back of `the head, the top thereof is 3 cut and drawn together by aseam 34 that runs over the top of the head to forward edge 35 of the hood. Another seam extending transversely thereof and normal to the rear end of top seam 34 as indicated at 36 draws the hood material together horizontally to provide for the rounded top of the hood.

Tie cords 37 and 38 are connected respectively at the back of the hood at 39 and at the shoulder seams 31 as indicated at 40. These tie cords are adapted to draw the hood and neck portion of the suit 'about theneck when tied as indicated at 42.

In order to provide added protection of material adjacent the sides of the face, forward edges of the hood have tapered panels as indicated respectively at 43 and 44 secured thereto along the respective edge seams 45 and 46. These tapered plates are narrow at the top and at their union with the top of the forward edge 35 of the hood and are wide at their bottoms and about the neck. The. lower edges of the plates run as an extension from the neck seam 39. n

To the inner edgesA 45 and.46 of the tapered plates 43 and 44 and extending therebetween and from the forward edge 35 is a more thin and less controllable transparent sheet 47 of plastic through which the wearer of Vthe garment can see. This sheet carries a breathing device 48. This sheet is adapted to extend over thefront of the face and is respectively connected with the respective plates 43 and 44 at 48 and 49. The plates, when the hood is tied about the neck, are drawn in and the side edges of the sheet 47 are drawn in to assume a position generally shown in Fig. 3.

The sheet 47 of transparent material extends over the full front of the face and has an extension 50 of heavier material secured thereto by a seam 51 adapted to'give to this part of the hood sufficient weight as to maintain the hood well down over the face whereby upon the hood being tied about the neck, as shown in Fig. 1, a large area, including the extension 50, will be extended downwardly over the top of the parts 11 and 12 so as to provide a runoff for lany liquid or dust that may accumulate on the transparent sheet 47 of the hood and to keep the same from entering the garment through the neck opening.

Under the arms are outlet devices 52 to allow carbon dioxide given oi by the wearer from air taken in through the breathing device 48 in the hood to -gravitate downwardly through the garment and to leave through the outlet devices 52, whereby air may be circulated through the garment. This will also help to keep the temperature within the garment lowered.

It should now be apparent that this garment or suit is easily gotten into when the slide fastener device 13 has been released. The hood c-an be pulled upwardly over the head and downwardly over the face as soon as the user of the garment has entered the same. By merely tying the cords 37 and 38 over the transparent face sheet 47, the neck opening will be completely closed and there will be little opportunity for entry of fallout dust into the suit.

It will be further apparent that added protection is given to the sides of the head and over the face and at the same time provision is made to give adequate room Within the hood to receive the head. The material from which the suit is made is of somewhat transparent, flexible plastic sheet material which can be formed by stitching or by plastic sealing.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it shall be understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A radio active fallout dust protective suit comprising a back portion, front separable portions, releasable fastener means for securing the front portions together over the front of the wearers body, a hood connected to the back portion and adapted to extend over the head, said hood including a front edge adapted to extend about the face, tapered panels connected respectively to the respective opposite sides of the front edge with their narrow ends at the top of the hood and diverging downwardly to the bottom of the hood and adapted to be folded into the sides of the hood, a transparent face sheet connected between the inner edges of the tapered panels and extending downwardly beyond the lower ends thereof to provide an extension adapted to overlie the fastening means at the top of the separable portions and tie cord means connected to the bottom of the hood adapted to tie in front of and over the extension of the transparent sheet, said tapered panels being free on their lower edges and adapted to be folded into the sides of the hood, whereby the thin face sheet will be controlled and drawn about the front of the face and added layers of material provided at the sides of the hood.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 806,099 Boehm Dec. 5, 1905 1,098,110 Heberlein May 26, 1914 1,466,726 Meeks Sept. 4, 1923 2,500,982 Fligel Mar. 21, 1950 2,649,583 Schaeffer Aug. 25, 1953 

